It raised its bull face and snapped at me with massive jaws.
“Please” I placed my hand on the massive forehead.
Blue light coursed over the head and down the body, lightening up the metallic skull and bone structure. For a moment, it was like a pretty x-ray or ajellyfish—a really disturbing jellyfish—and then cobalt light radiated from its eyes and open mouth. It imploded—caved in on itself, turning to nothing but dust.
And then the crap really hit the fan.
The automatons—every last one of the freaky bull things—turned on me. They moved quickly, metal legs rattling and clinking. Fire spewed from their mouths like the poor man’s version of a dragon. They came from all directions, Apollyon-seeking missiles with “Kill Alex” stamped all over them.
Fire came from them, blinding and intense. Nothing existed outside the flames. No sound. No sight. My world was red and orange…
And my world was tinted in amber.
Alex? His voice came through the thrumming connection.
I ignored him and the way his consciousness slid in alongside mine.
What are you up to?
Still I ignored the pull of the First. Instinct on a deep, ancient level I wasn’t familiar with had taken over. The marks of the Apollyon flowed across my skin as I lifted my hands. The fire stopped inches from me, forming a fiery circle. Heat fell back on me but did not burn. I blew out a soft, steady breath and the fire flickered once, twice, and then faded out.
The automatons drew up short, puffing and snorting loudly.
My arms rose to my sides, my finger splayed out, and the air hummed with power and anticipation. Blue light crackled over my fingertips, waiting… wanting…
One of the automatons, the biggest of those remaining, charged. At the sound of the dark roar, akasha pulled tight and constricted just like the bond between Seth and me.
I let it go.
The blast of power rushed from me, rolling like storm-tossed waves. The surge smacked into the automaton nearest me. Blue light flared from the creature’s eye sockets and open jaws. A second later, it imploded. The swell crashed into four more, taking them out before the outpouring of akasha eased off.
As the shimmering dust settled onto the dry soil, exhaustion swept through me. The bond to Seth still felt open, even though the world was shaded in deep blue and black again. Being that this was my first time using akasha like a flyswatter, I wasn’t prepared for the exhaustion that followed. My legs trembled under my weight as I struggled to hold myself up. I reached for my daggers and realized, like a total tool, I’d thrown them somewhere over yonder in a fit of an “I am so awesome” and “who needs daggers when I have akasha fingers of power?” ego trip.
Luckily, others still held their weapons, and the automatons were distracted with me. Marcus took out one with a point-blank shot to the back of the skull. Aiden wielded his sickle blade like an executioner, lopping off the head of another.
One of the automatons reached for me and I darted—er, stumbled—to the side and plopped down on my rear. And once I was down on my butt, I really didn’t want to get up. I was like a toddler, all tuckered out. Pathetic—I needed to learn to pace myself.
The automaton uttered a guttural growl.
I crab-walked backward, putting very little distance between us. Just when I was pretty sure I was about to end up with a deep tan, Lea came out of freaking nowhere, shoved the sharp end of her Covenant dagger through the back of the automaton’s neck, and then wrenched her arm to the side.
My eyes widened as the shimmery dust fell near the toes of my boots. “Wow.”
Lea cocked her head to the side as she frowned at the gore dripping from the blade. “Well, that was gross.”
“Yeah,” I said slowly, looking around. I counted eight and then Lea. Nine. All of us were still standing. Bruised and exhausted, but we were still fighting. I let out a weak laugh. “Gods.”
The sound of metal crunching, along with the wet, fleshy give of bone and muscle, continued as the rest of the automatons were taken out in less explosive displays.
Lea reached down and wiggled her fingers. “You gonna sit there the rest of the night or get up? Because I’m sure as hell not carrying your ass. You probably weigh a ton.”
Grinning weakly, I lifted my hand just as a dark shadow appeared behind Lea. My heart leapt into my throat as fear balled in my chest. The extreme burst of emotion had Seth in a tizzy, and I could tell he was paying close attention even though he was put-out from me ignoring him.
“Lea!” I shouted out as my fingers brushed hers.
She turned halfway, sucking in a breath.
Finding a reservoir of energy, I shot to my feet but—oh, god—it was too late. I summoned akasha, but it was like tapping a dry well. There was nothing left, but I was the Apollyon and there should have been something that I could do—there had to be, but before I could use the air element to move Lea out of the way, it had happened.
The automaton grasped the sides of her head and twisted. The crack of bone was deafening, as loud as thunder. Her fingers spasmed and the dagger slipped from them. The sound… it whipped through me, stealing my breath and twisting my insides into raw painful knots. The sound… it would stay with me forever.
Lea was on the ground before me, a boneless, motionless heap of nothing more than flesh. My brain couldn’t reconcile what’d just happened. Like with Caleb, denial rose and it was so strong, so potent that I refused to believe it.
Someone came up behind the automaton and there was an explosion of shimmery dust, but I didn’t know who it was and I didn’t care. At that moment, automatons could rain down on us and I wouldn’t care.
There had been nine of us…
My heart stuttered and then sped up way too fast. The world whirled around me, a kaleidoscope of muted shades with flashes of intense amber. Someone was calling my name, the deep, near-frantic voice mixing with the low hum of Seth’s.
I wanted them to shut up—both of them, because this wasn’t real. It couldn’t be, and then in a moment of painful and stark reality, I couldn’t understand how I could be so surprised. As if I hadn’t expected death. As if death couldn’t touch us. How could I be so surprised? Every one of them had set out knowing that this was dangerous, that any moment could be their last. And a few miles ago I had known death was coming, so much so I could taste the sorrow on the tip of my tongue.
I dropped to my knees, hands shaking as I placed them on Lea’s shoulder and gently rolled her onto her back. From the odd angle of how her head lay, to the pale color bleeding under her the tan skin, to the way her eyes…
My fingers trembled as I brushed the coppery strands off her cool forehead. Gods, how could the body cool that fast? It didn’t seem possible or right. It definitely wasn’t fair.
Lea’s beautiful amethyst eyes—eyes I had envied as a kid—were fixed on the dark sky. There was no shine to them, no inner light. There was nothing.
Lea was gone, like Caleb and Mom, like all those people back in those cars. She was… I couldn’t finish the sentence. That one little word couldn’t be taken back.
I jerked my hands away, folding them under my chin. Others were nearing us. Someone was crying softly. Voices rose, uttering denials, and then there was silence. My breath caught again.
Someone knelt on the other side of Lea. A Covenant dagger was carefully placed on the ground and soft words were uttered in ancient Greek. A prayer for a warrior’s death—a hymn delivered during burial.
I lifted my gaze and my eyes locked with dark, tumultuous gray ones. Aiden’s face was so pale; the horror etched into his features mirrored my own. His eyes were dry, but anger and sadness burned from within them. He shook his head. My lashes felt damp.
I couldn’t sit here. I just couldn’t.
Pushing to my feet, I stumbled past Marcus and Olivia. I went past Luke and Deacon, beyond where Laadan and Solos stood. I kept walking, having no idea where I was going or what I was going to do.
Alex?
My hands curled at the sound of Seth’s voice. Red-hot anger roared through me like a train derailed. He hadn’t snapped Lea’s neck like it was nothing more than a twig, but his hands were bloody, weren’t they? I don’t want to talk to you right now.
There was silence—for now.
Stomach churning, tears coursed down my cheeks. Part of me was still in shock, as stupid as that was. The nine of us had been alive. We all had been still standing. I had laughed. And then Lea was gone. Just like that, with no real warning.
Gods, Lea and I had been far from best-friends-forever, but we’d come so far. I’d respected her, probably longer than I’d realized, and the same went for her. There was so much between us that needed to be addressed—to be repaired—but there would be no more time. And even though we’d spent the better part of whatever time we’d been together hating on one another, she’d come to my aid and she’d stood her ground.
Realizing that cut so deep it matched the pain of Caleb’s loss.
“Alex,” Aiden said from behind me.
I shook my head. “I can’t… I can’t do this right now.” My voice cracked. “I need a few minutes.”
He hesitated, and then I felt his hand on my shoulder. I pulled free and walked ahead, dragging in deep breaths even though they didn’t seem to be pulling enough air into my lungs. I couldn’t afford to lose it like I had after Caleb’s death. I couldn’t disconnect from this or self-destruct. I had to deal, but…
Godsdammit. I bent over, placing my hands on my knees. The urge to vomit was strong, but there was nothing coming up.
Had I apologized to her about what a douchebag I’d been to her when we were kids? I didn’t think so. I squeezed my eyes shut and saw her body lying on the ground back there.
Alex? There was a pause and the bond pulled taut. What’s happening!
I sat down—probably fell down—for the second time that night. Keeping my eyes closed, I kept the shields up but followed the bond to Seth. I didn’t know how to feel about that. Maybe it was all the anger taking up too much room to feel anything else. Is this what you wanted? I asked.
Seth didn’t respond immediately. I’m not sure what you mean. I can feel your emotions. Something has happened.
Shut up! I’m not sure what did it—the almost-sincere quality to his voice, or the fact that he had taken Lea’s sister and my mom had taken her family and, because of what Seth and I were, she had lost her life. I broke wide open in an instant. Shut up! Just shut up! Are you happy, Seth? Is that what you wanted from this?
Tears tracked down my cheeks, fast and furious. My arms shook—my entire body trembled to keep the shields up. I couldn’t let them down, not when Seth was inside my head like this. He’d know where I was and there’d be more death.
I threw my head back and there were no words, just sorrow, guilt, and rage. They poured from me in a scream that made no sound outside my body.
Stop, he said, and there was a pressure around me, almost like Seth was wrapping his arms around me, holding me still. You need to calm down because you’re bursting a lot of my brain cells. Take a couple of deep breaths. Just calm down. Okay?
Several moments passed, and I breathed heavily through them. I sat there, eyes closed, seeing nothing and feeling nothing. None of this seemed real.
Who’s dead? Seth asked, and I could tell by his tone that he expected the worst.
Lea. Even the voice inside my head sounded numb. She’s dead, like her whole family.
Seth said nothing. Maybe he knew the significance. After all, when we’d been connected before, he’d seen a lot of my past, and he probably could guess that I had no idea how to deal with this. Perhaps he was even thinking the same thing I had—that our connection had taken everything from Lea, including her life. I doubted that, even if he was thinking that, it would make any difference. Seth would continue doing what he was doing. And so would I. He didn’t say anything as I pulled my legs to my chest and balled up, desperately not wanting to feel the biting loss again. And he said nothing as the odd pressure inside me increased.
We were enemies to the core, more so now than ever, but my loss was his. When I suffered, he suffered. It was the way we were built, and even the death that he had indirectly caused couldn’t breach that or shatter what lay between us.
Nothing could.
CHAPTER 33
I don’t know how long I sat there, but when I opened my eyes again, the sky was still dark and Seth’s presence was gone. At some point, I’d felt him ease away. I thought he had whispered something before the connection faded, but I had to be hearing things, because it couldn’t be right.
I’d thought I’d heard him say he was sorry.
Obviously I was losing my mind. Seth rarely apologized, and given his needs for power and acceptance that had driven him toward this end game, I doubted he felt remorse.
Taking a deep breath, I almost choked on the bitter remnants of smoke. I knew what I needed to do—pick myself up and get moving. Sitting out here in the open, waiting for more automatons to come along, wasn’t safe.
I stood and turned, brushing the dirt off my tactical pants. The group was still around Lea’s body. Olivia was sitting beside the fallen half-blood, her head in her hands. Deacon and Luke flanked her, the half cradling his injured arm.
Wiping my hands across my cheeks, I stopped beside Aiden.
Olivia looked up, her eyes shiny in the moonlight. “She didn’t feel it, right?”
I shook my head. “No. I don’t think so.”
She nodded, and then picked up Lea’s blade, holding it close as she stood. “What do we… what do we do from here?”
It was Solos who spoke. “We need to move quickly. There’s no telling if more will come along, and we’re sitting ducks out here.”
“Do you still think the University is a safe place?” Marcus asked, rubbing his chin. The palm of his hand came back red. I realized then he was bleeding.
I started toward Marcus, but he waved me off. “I’m okay. It’s just a scratch,” he said gruffly. “How do we know that the University is still standing? The automatons could’ve torched it and…”
And all those people. My head swam as I glanced down at Lea. Someone had closed her eyes. Mine burned.
“We have to find out.” Aiden thrust a hand through his hair. “We’re about a mile from the campus.”
Luke shook his head. “There could be more of them. Hell, there could be a dozen or more over the next damn hill and we’d be walking into that blind.”
“Or there could be nothing but open land and the damn University,” Aiden countered, his jaw set hard. “As far as we know, these automatons may’ve been here to stop anyone from reaching the campus… or to stop people from leaving.”
“Or the campus could be gone.” Deacon backed up, running his hands down his sides.
Solos stepped forward, clapping a hand on Deacon’s shoulder. “I cannot believe the whole campus is gone.”
“With all those automatons, anything is possible.” Luke straightened his injured arm as he stared in the general direction of where I assumed the campus was. “But we have to see. We’ve come this—”
“Wait!” Olivia’s voice rose above the guys’. “I wasn’t asking about going to the University or not. I was talking about what we were going to do with Lea.”
Silence fell again and I turned to Aiden. “We can’t leave her here.”
Pain flickered in those deep gray eyes. He reached out, extending his hand, and I went, pressing myself against his side. My fingers dug into his singed shirt, finding tiny burnt holes in the material. “We can’t,” I whispered.
His arm tightened around me. “I know.”
“We can’t… take her with us,” Solos said. “We have no idea what we’ll be facing.”
Olivia went off like a nuclear bomb, holding that dagger like she was considering impaling it between Solos’ eyes. “We can’t leave her here like this. That’s so wrong
I don’t even need to explain.”
Sympathy shone in Solos’ scarred face. “I know, but we—”
“We bury our dead—our warriors.” Olivia’s lower lip trembled. “We don’t just leave them here to rot.”
Laadan placed a pale hand on Olivia’s arm, but Olivia was beyond consoling. “I don’t care what we have to face or what is waiting for us! We can’t just leave her here.” Her gaze swung to me. “We need to bury her.”
“With what?” Solos asked gently. “We don’t have shovels and this ground is rock hard.”
Olivia sucked in a sharp breath and turned. Her slim shoulders shook as Luke wrapped his good arm around her.
“Aiden, we have to do something,” Deacon pleaded. “I don’t know what, but something.”
Pulling away from Aiden, I glanced down at my hands. I wasn’t sure how much juice I had left in me, or even if I could use the earth element to create… to create a grave, but I would try. There was no way we could leave Lea out here.
“I don’t know if this will work.” I tucked my hair back, having no idea what’d happened to my ponytail.
Aiden’s brows slammed down as concern flared. “Are you sure you’re up to it?”
I nodded. “Where do you think we should do it, Olivia?”
It took her a couple of seconds to pull away from Luke and process what I was asking. She looked around and seemed to recognize that there really wasn’t a suitable place. She headed off and I followed her. We stopped near two juniper trees that had remained unscathed from the fire and battle, their sweet scent so at odds with the lingering acidic and metallic smells.
“This should work,” she said, clearing her throat. “It’s not much, but the trees… she’d like the trees.”
I looked at her.
Olivia slowly turned to me and she let out a choked, hoarse laugh. “Okay. Lea really wasn’t big on nature or trees.”
“No.” I smiled and it hurt. “She’s probably thinking what the hell right now.”
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